Crossword Genius

Left son in to inspire French publisher (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

larousse

'french publisher' is the definition.
(French publisher of dictionaries)

'left son in to inspire' is the wordplay.
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
'son' becomes 's'.
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'to inspire' becomes 'arouse'.
's' placed into 'arouse' is 'arousse'.
'l'+'arousse'='LAROUSSE'

(Another definition for larousse that I've seen is " lexicographer".)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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